


bells on a hill

by pseudowoodo



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25240336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudowoodo/pseuds/pseudowoodo
Summary: When conman Sebastian's car breaks down, leaving him stranded in small town Ohio, he decides to pull his boy’s band con, selling uniforms and instruments then skipping out before actually delivering on the promised band. Naturally this involves seducing the only one in town with enough musical knowledge to see through him, librarian and piano teacher Blaine Anderson.Modern day Music Man au
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25
Collections: Seblaine Week 2020





	bells on a hill

**Author's Note:**

> for Seblaine Week 2020 Day 2: Modern Retelling

Sebastian’s car breaks down in what can only be described as the middle of nowhere. It’s not really a surprise, the thing was a piece of shit - he’d had to leave Chicago in a hurry and had taken what he could get. Still, he’d hoped it would last at least until he got somewhere with an airport. 

He hasn’t seen another car for hours and has no interest waiting on the side of the road with nothing but corn to look at, so he sets off walking. His phone tells him the town of River City, Ohio is just three miles away and they have a machine shop, hilariously named Hummel Tires and Lube. If he’s lucky he might even be able to pawn this current car off for an upgrade. 

It’s not long until he’s reached the town’s outskirts, exchanging farmland for tree lined streets of neatly painted houses. Clearly he’s stumbled into a wealthier hamlet than anticipated. Maybe he could even make some money here. He’d developed a small town con during those few years he’d been stuck at a midwest prep school and it had worked well enough the one time he’d tried it while laying low in Iowa. It would work better now that he knew the pitfalls and he could use a little extra cash before he staged his triumphant return to New York. 

The town square is idyllic in the classic all American way he didn’t think existed anymore, if it had ever really existed at all. There are stately brick buildings, shops with brightly colored awnings, and a frankly unhealthy number of American flags. Sebastian feels like he’s stumbled onto a TV set.

His phone died on his walk so he’s forced to ask for directions to the mechanic. At first all he gets in response are suspicious looks and begrudging nods in the right direction. So much for small town hospitality. He can feel them labeling him a city slicker because this is the kind of town where people still said shit like that. He cranks up the charm with every interaction until he finally has enough to go on to get himself there. By that time, he’s abandoned all ideas of pulling a con here - there’s no way it would be worth the effort. 

He reaches the garage, smirking at the sign before entering. It’s quiet and apparently empty. 

“Hello?”

“Be with you in a sec,” comes a voice from under a car. A strangely familiar voice.

To his surprise, he actually recognizes the blonde head that pops up a few moments later. 

“Sam Evans?”

Sam’s eyes widen and his face breaks into one of his enormous grins. “Sebastian? What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Last I heard you were still in New York.” 

“This is my hometown!” Sam explains. “I grew up here.” 

“God, I’m sorry. Are you here for a funeral or something?”

Sam laughs. “No, I decided to move back. New York is great, but I missed the small town life, you know?”

Sebastian does not know. Small towns and the idiots that inhabited them could make for some fun on occasion but he can’t imagine ever living in one. Sam always had that country boy naiveté to him though, even after years in New York. It’s what had gotten him into the money trouble that Sebastian had so graciously helped him out of, gratitude for which had gotten Sam sucked into several of Sebastian’s schemes. He’d made a wonderfully guileless partner in crime. Maybe this town wasn’t so hopeless after all. 

“So what about you?” Sam asks. “I thought you were in Chicago?”

“I was. Burned a few too many bridges and went on my way. My car broke down up the road. Hence the need for a mechanic.”

“Oh, no problem man, I’ll send Finn to go tow it!”

Sam summons a tall, corn-fed teenager - apparently the boss’s stepson - and Sebastian gives him directions to where he’d left his car. 

It doesn’t take long and within the hour Sebastian is informed that he is indeed stuck here for the days or weeks it will take for the necessary car parts to be shipped in. It’s not the tragedy he would have thought it before he saw Sam, who takes the rest of the afternoon off to show Sebastian around. He gets him checked into the town’s one hotel, a cutesy bed and breakfast, then takes him to the coffee shop in the main square and buys him a sandwich, chattering happily about how crazy it is they’ve met up like this. They eat on a bench outside, Sebastain still drawing curious looks from passersby. 

Well, if he's going to be stuck here anyway, he’s practically obligated to make some fun. “How musical would you say this town is?” Sebastian asks. 

“Uh, what?”

“Does the school have a marching band? Or any type of band really.”

Sam shakes his head. “Nah, they’re not big on the arts here. One of the teachers tried to start a show choir a couple years ago and it got shut down after like a semester.” 

“Hmm. How would you feel about me doing a job here?”

“Oh, you mean that Iowa thing?” Sam says, catching on. He screws up his face and shakes his head. “I don’t think that would work here.” 

“Why not? With you as my inside man it’d be a piece of cake! I’ll give you 20 percent of the profit too.” 

“I don’t know how much help I’d be,” Sam says doubtfully. “The cheerleading coach has some sort of vendetta against the arts and she’s like, super scary.”

Sebastian snorts. “I can handle a small town cheerleading coach,” he says. “Unless you don’t want me to. It’s your town, I’ll back off if you ask.”

“No, I mean if you really could do it, I think a band would be good for this town. I wish we had more stuff like that when I went to school here.”

“Well, they won’t actually get a band,” Sebastian reminds him. “That’s kind of the point, I collect the money for instruments and uniforms then take off without delivering.”

“Yeah, but if people are thinking about it then maybe it’ll actually happen.” Sam shrugs. “I don’t know, this town could use a little shaking up.”

Sebastian smiles. Looks like Sam wasn’t finding small town life as idyllic as he remembered. He holds out his hand. “So we have a deal?” 

Sam high fives it instead of shaking, but Sebastian’s going to take that as a yes.

“Alright, henceforth I am a distinguished music teacher who has helped coach many a marching band to a national championship. Fate has graced this little town with my presence and I shall generously share my wisdom and lead their children to greatness. Now, who here would be able to call bullshit on that?”

“Uh, anyone with Google?”

“Please, I’ll have a passable online presence by tomorrow. I mean who here will be able to tell I don’t actually know anything about music. That’s what tripped me up last time. The piano teacher figured me out and blew the whistle before I got all the money.”

“Oh, the librarian teaches piano!” Sam says, sitting up a little straighter.

“How wholesome,” Sebastian smirks. “Anyone else? What about that teacher who tried to start a show choir?”

Sam laughs a little. “No. He can sing, but that’s it. This town’s really not very musical.”

Sebastian leans back, satisfied. “So just the piano teaching librarian then. Shouldn’t be too hard to charm into looking the other way. What flavor are we talking here, little old lady or sad, desperate spinster?” 

Sam is about to answer when his eyes catch on something out in the square. “Thar she blows,” he says, nodding to direct Sebastian's attention.

Sebastian had worried the librarian would be the strict headmistress type but severe doesn’t even begin to describe the terrifyingly tall blonde woman marching across the square. 

He grimaces. “I’ll do it, but I won’t like it.”

“Huh?” Sam looks at Sebastian then back at the woman then starts laughing. “Oh, no, that’s not the librarian. That’s the cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester.” 

“Ah, my new nemesis,” Sebastian says, eyeing her again with interest. Not the sort of woman he’d likely have much success winning over, but luckily he won’t have to. 

“Yeah. I was about to say though that the librarian isn’t like that. He’s a guy.”

Sebastian perks up even though the chances Sam means it like he’s thinking are miniscule. “What kind of guy?” 

For the first time Sam looks uncomfortable. “Look, you’re not gonna try to like, seduce him or anything, right?”

Sebastian’s eyebrows shoot up. Fun. “Are you saying that’s a possibility?”

Sam shifts his gaze away guiltily, which is answer enough. He sighs. “Blaine and I went to high school together and... he had it pretty rough. This town is kinda conservative.” 

“Really,” Sebastian drawls, eying the three American flags hanging outside the coffee shop alone. “I never would have guessed.”

“He’s been through a lot, okay?” Sam says, more serious than Sebastian had thought him capable of. “I don’t want you making any trouble for him.”

“I can be discreet,” Sebastian says, delighted. “If the poor guy’s been stuck here, I’m sure he could use a little fun.”

“Maybe,” Sam says, uncertainly. “Just don’t take things too far.”

“Just a flirtation, I promise.” He’ll figure out if he’ll actually keep that promise once he sees the guy. “Point him out to me if you see him, alright?”

“Yeah, alright. I still don’t get how you’re gonna convince the town to let you start a band in the first place.”

“Easy. What else will keep the children out of the terrible, terrible trouble they’re in.”

“What trouble?”

“You tell me. Kids are always getting into trouble, there must be something that’s got the town buzzing recently.” 

Sam thinks a moment then snaps his fingers. “Underage drinking!”

“A classic,” Sebastian nods. “Drunk driving accident?”

“Nah, nothing that serious. Some kids had a party in their basement then came to school hungover.” Sam’s laughs as he explains, “One of them was supposed to give a speech during an assembly and threw up onstage.” 

Sebastian chuckles and pushes himself out of his chair. “I can work with that.”

“Now?” 

“No time like the present. Come on, introduce me.”

With Sam’s help, he manages to strike up a conversation with one of the stuck up townspeople. The topic is easily turned to underage drinking and it isn’t long until there’s a whole crowd around them in the center of the town square, hanging on every word of his alarmist bullshit. A couple of high school kids having drinks with their friends may seem harmless but as the good parents they surely are they must recognize the warning signs of what will inevitably lead their children down the road to teen pregnancy, opioid addiction, and probably death. He throws the word sin in a few times because it seems like that kind of crowd and finally reaches the conclusion that they have to find _some_ way to keep the young ones moral after school. 

It’s not long before the message is spreading without his input, panicked parents sharing their worry with their friends. Not a bad start. His surveyal of his handiwork is distracted by Sam, who seems to be having some sort of fit. After a moment Sebastian realizes he’s miming playing the piano while jerking his head towards the edge of the square. Sebastian follows the motion and spots a man skirting the crowd and heading down a side street. 

He nods his thanks to Sam and sets off after him. 

It’s twilight now, streetlights coming on to combat the deepening shadows. Sebastian keeps an easy pace behind Blaine, studying as he goes. He can’t tell much from the back, but it’s certainly not a bad view. 

It doesn’t take long for Blaine to notice he’s being followed, Sebastian sees his shoulders tighten as he looks back at him out of the corner of his eye. Sebastian gives him his most charming smile and is surprised when Blaine stops and turns around. 

“Can I help you?”

“I hope so,” Sebastian says, giving him a lingering once over. He’s certainly dressed the part of a librarian: waistcoat, bowtie, and cardigan, all very proper. If this was New York he could pass it off as hipster cool but here it just looks old fashioned, like he’s been frozen in time since the 50s along with the rest of this town. He pulls it off though. In fact, he’s better looking than Sebastian would have hoped. 

He holds out his hand. “Sebastian Smythe. My car broke down and it looks like I’m gonna be stuck here for awhile.” 

Blaine hesitates, then shakes his hand. “Blaine Anderson.”

“Well Blaine Anderson, I was hoping you could show me where to find something to eat around here.”

Blaine eyes him with suspicion. “There’s only one restaurant in town. Breadstix. It’s on Main Street, you can’t miss it.”

“I don’t know, I think I could use a tour guide. I’ll buy you dinner for your trouble.”

This seems to baffle Blaine, who stammers a little before getting out, “Did Cooper put you up this? Are you one of his actor friends from LA?”

“Do I look like I’m from LA?” Sebastian asks, somewhat offended. East Coast all the way. He moves on to the more relevant question of, “Who’s Cooper?”

“My brother,” Blaine says with a grimace. “He - never mind. It’s stupid.”

“You can tell me about it over dinner,” Sebastian offers.

“I can’t,” Blaine says, not quite regretful enough for Sebastian’s liking. “I’m already late for a piano lesson.” 

“Another time then,” Sebastian says easily. “Like I said, it looks like I’m gonna be here awhile.”

Blaine makes a noncommittal noise before going on his way but he looks back at Sebastian over his shoulder as he goes. 

Sebastian grins. This is gonna be fun.


End file.
